Dark Lover
|} AUDIO BOOKS STORY BLURB In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood... The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead… Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both… 'MAIN CHARACTERS' *Wrath II (a.k.a. "The Blind King") *Elizabeth Randall ("Beth") 'OTHER CHARACTERS' BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS *Darius ("D") *Phury *Rhage ("Hollywood") *Tohrment ("Tohr") *Vishous ("V") *Zsadist ("Z") OTHERS - SPEAKING ROLES *Abby (a prostitute) *Analisse ("The Scribe Virgin", the Vampire's deity-creator) *Billy Riddle ("Mr. R", Beth's attacker, a Lesser recruit, deceased) *Brian O'Neal ("Butch", a Caldwell police detective) *Dick (Beth's boss at the Caldwell Courier) *Doug (a Caldwell police officer) *Fritz Perlmutter (Wrath's doggen) *Havers (Vampire glymera doctor, brother of Marissa) *Jose de la Cruz (Caldwell police detective, Butch's partner) *Karolyn (Havers' doggen) *Loser (a Lesser recruit) *Marissa (a Vampire glymera female - fiancee of Wrath, sister of Havers) *Mary "Cherry Pie" Mulcahy (a prostitute who Beth knew growing up in foster homes, murdered by Mr. X) *Mr. O (a Lesser recruit) *Mr. X ("Mr. Xavier", "Joseph Xavier", Fore-lesser) *Ricky (a Caldwell police officer, one of Beth's police sources) *Strauss (Billy Riddle's friend) *The Omega (the Lessers' deity-creator) *Wellesandra ("Wellsie", Tohrment's shellan) *unknown waitress (tried to serve Billy Riddle & Mr. X at a diner, but was told to scram by Mr. X) MENTIONED OR NON-SPEAKING ROLES * Beth's birth mother (Darius' former human lover, deceased) * Big Daddy (Cherry Pie's pimp) * Billy Riddle's father (Billy really hates him) * Billy Riddle's mother (deceased, she died after falling drunk into the family pool & drowned) * Boo (Beth's black cat) * Carla "Candy" Rizzoli (a prostitute, deceased, murdered by Mr. X) * Darryl (Caldwell police officer) * Evangeline (Havers' shellan, deceased) * Janie O'Neal (Butch's younger sister, deceased) * Mr. M (a Lesser recruit, had his throat slit by Mr. O then was stabbed back to The Omega by Mr. X) * Mr. X's receptionist at the dojo (Mr. X really hates her) * Mrs. Di Gio (Beth's neighbor, who has a tabby cat that Boo likes) * Phillie (son of a Caldwell police officer, learns jujitsu from Mr. X) * Phillie's father (a Caldwell police officer who stops Mr. X at a checkpoint) * Phillip (Havers' doggen) * Tony (Beth's co-worker at the Caldwell Courier) * Wrath I ("The Fair", Wrath's father, deceased) * Wrath's mother (deceased) * unknown vampire male (deceased, murdered by Mr. X, his body went up in flames in a barn) SYNOPSIS Darius, son of Marklon, goes to Screamers, a nightclub in Caldwell, New York, to meet up with Wrath II ("Wrath") to ask a favour of his king. He meets Tohrment I ("Tohr") there. They are both members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, an elite force of soldiers who protect their race, the Vampires, from their enemies. Tohr knows the favour Darius wishes to ask of Wrath, and predicts Darius will be rejected. He then leaves Darius to face Wrath alone. Darius meets with Wrath and make his request: for Wrath to help Darius' only surviving daughter, a half-breed (her mother, whom Darius loved, was a human) through her transition, which is coming very soon upon her. Wrath rejects Darius' request, as Tohr predicted. Disheartened, Darius leaves Screamers and gets into his car, which is parked in an alley nearby. He turns the key and the car blows up. Darius is killed. When his spirit goes unto the Fade, it is stopped at the doorway into paradise by the Scribe Virgin, the deity-creator of the Vampire race. Darius begs to be returned to the land of the living, so he might find someone to look after and protect his daughter, whom he has been watching in the shadows since her birth and whom he has come to love very much. The Scribe Virgin considers his plea, and states that Darius has always been an honourable and exemplary soldier. She then explains that Darius' death was not fated to happen yet, and that the Lessening Society (humans who have been turned into immortal soldiers by their deity-creator, The Omega -- the Scribe Virgin's evil brother) has unbalanced the universe in committing this sin in taking his life. In order for balance to be restored, she grants Darius his wish...but with two small caveats: first, he will be reincarnated as another person, and thus lose all memory of having once been Darius, son of Marklon (this is the price for his second chance at life), and second, his new incarnation will be born mute (this is the price for him to be set on a path that will take him into direct contact with his daughter in his new life). Darius agrees to the deal, and the Scribe Virgin grants him his wish. He is reincarnated as a pre-trans Vampire named John Matthew, who is living on the streets in the human world as an orphan, with no knowledge of his Vampire heritage and no voice to cry for help when he is attacked by humans. In the meantime, Darius' daughter, Elizabeth "Beth" Randall, is a reporter for the Caldwell Journal in Caldwell, New York. DELETED SCENE On J.R. Ward's official website, she has included a deleted scene from this book, featuring an interaction between Mr. X, the Forelesser, and Billy Riddle. You can read it here.Category:Books